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7.21.2011

The Dorothy King Collection ...

I don't buy antiquities, but have been given some over the years. Some archaeologists, including a number that regularly denounce the art market and collectors, do or have actively collected in the past. For the sake of transparency, these are all the antiquities I own, two of which are fakes, most of which were gifted via family / friends and several of which have very good provenances from famous collections. I don't have that acquisitive urge to collect, so the few pieces I own mostly live in storage except when they are lent to a museum (one other item has a secure provenance to 1804 and has been on loan to a museum for 10+ years).

I mention provenance because ... well most people don't keep records of everything, and without a seance or a great deal of hard work I'd have a hard time proving where some of these items were in 1969 ...

And provenance is an important issue. I've been trying to set up a Database of Looted Antiquities, the idea being to create a provenance to show when items were looted. We had a few hiccups this week, somehow connected to two men that have nothing to do with the database. But ... also one small victory: a head was sold at auction, the auction house said it had proof the head had been in Switzerland, and ... oh whoops, someone helping with the database has been able to prove not only where it was looted from, but also when (long after 1970). If collectors had any sense, they'll get in touch and try to help us - rather than get caught having to rapatrier lescbjets ...

So for the sake of transparency, and because some meetings have been cancelled and I have some time on my hands, this is my "collection". I hope others will follow suit and academics will make their own pieces available to others.

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